The quest for an optimal xylose pathway in yeast is of utmost importance along the way to realizing the potential of lignocellulosic biomass conversion into fuels and chemicals. An often overlooked aspect of this catabolic pathway is the molecular transport of this sugar. Molecular transporter proteins facilitate monosaccharide uptake and serve as the first step in catabolic metabolism. In this capacity, the preferences, regulation, and kinetics of these transporters ultimately dictate total carbon flux. Optimization of intracellular catabolic pathways only increases the degree to which transport exerts control over metabolic flux. Thus, monosaccharide transport profiles and rates are important design criteria and a driving force to enable metabolic engineering advances. Among possible host organisms, Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an emerging industrial organism. However, S. cerevisiae lacks an endogenous xylose catabolic pathway and thus is unable to natively utilize the second most abundant sugar in lignocellulosic biomass, xylose. Decades of research have been focused on improving xylose catabolic pathways in recombinant S. cerevisiae, but little effort has been focused on the first committed step of the process—xylose transport, an outstanding limitation in the efficient conversion of lignocellulosic sugars. There is a need in the art for efficient transport systems for xylose in yeast. Provided herein are solutions to these and other problems in the art.